forum ate a better post than this...and I don't feel like retyping...ironically.

Basically I want to write on random topics and ideas...however coming up with those topics and ideas myself would slow the process of what I want to do down and i'd also likely subconsciously reject topics which I don't want to happen...

So could you guys post some ideas/topics to write about... It can be mundane or fantastic... a single word or a sentence or two... I'll work from anything in the list.

Starting Monday I'm going to try to write on at least one of the topics/ideas each day and probably get more than one done a day.

You know they sell whole books of writing prompts? I saw three different ones last time I was at the bookstore.

"h[color="#1C2837"]owever coming up with those topics and ideas myself would slow the process..."

[color="#1C2837"]You don't have a huge pile handy already? I find myself depressed that I have more ideas than time.

[color="#1C2837"]I suspect you do but don't realize you do; you must think about something or have opinions on something? Start there. Does not have to be fiction; can be "literary non-fiction".[color="#1C2837"]
[color="#1C2837"]Anyway, I'll throw out some.

[color="#1C2837"]-A society doesn't have any formal hierarchies, but they have a central computer called the Delegator that knows all, sees all, and can give instructions to people or solicit input by calling their mobiles. It can even ask people to reprogram itself, but usually (for example) knows there's a pipe to fix somewhere and knows someone who has the appropriate talent and free time. So our protagonist wakes up, has his coffee, and receives a call...

[color="#1C2837"]-"You're the last person in the world. There's a knock at the door..."

You know they sell whole books of writing prompts? I saw three different ones last time I was at the bookstore.

I don't read many books and even if I did the closest bookstore i know of is 10 miles away and I don't drive ^.^

"h[color="#1C2837"]owever coming up with those topics and ideas myself would slow the process..."

[color="#1C2837"]You don't have a huge pile handy already? I find myself depressed that I have more ideas than time.

[color="#1C2837"]I suspect you do but don't realize you do; you must think about something or have opinions on something? Start there. Does not have to be fiction; can be "literary non-fiction".
[color="#1C2837"]Anyway, I'll throw out some.

[color="#1C2837"]-A society doesn't have any formal hierarchies, but they have a central computer called the Delegator that knows all, sees all, and can give instructions to people or solicit input by calling their mobiles. It can even ask people to reprogram itself, but usually (for example) knows there's a pipe to fix somewhere and knows someone who has the appropriate talent and free time. So our protagonist wakes up, has his coffee, and receives a call...

[color="#1C2837"]-"You're the last person in the world. There's a knock at the door..."

I have a tons of ideas for projects but that the thing... they are for projects. I want to stay away from those projects for the most part for now.

So write tiny glimpses. Give some feedback on my pitches and maybe I'll come up with something else?

Let the reader develop the story. Give them something to use as the imagination, but don't make it look cheap.

So write tiny glimpses. Give some feedback on my pitches and maybe I'll come up with something else?

So I decided to write on taking the "You're the last person in the world. Then there is a know on the door..." not as the beginning sentence but as the general concept.... this is obviously not a complete tale, but I can't think of where to go from here at the moment... well no here not sci-fi-ish at least so I stopped for now and I'm gonna let my brain rest for a bit. This is the longest piece of anything I've written in a while and it is around 1700 words and took about 2.5 hours to write. I'll probably write more later, but once today is over I think I'd prefer moving to a different topic than keep going with this even if it hasn't ended yet.

Anyways... Here's what I wrote. Tell me what you think...

I'm the last man on Earth, or at leastI believe I am. I haven't checked the whole world obviously, buteverywhere I looked there wasn't a trace of another person. I don'tknow how it happened. Like a lot of my life, it happened while I wasasleep. At first, I didn't notice anything. The world was automated,so the I didn't really notice that no one replied to me on thevarious forums I visit. I just figured it was one of the low pointsthat ever forum goes through from time to time. And of course the TVstations kept broadcasting new stuff for a few days, but once nothingnew was broadcasting it hit me that I hadn't heard from anyone in aweek and I decided to go take a look around.

There was nothing out there, but aplethora of survival horror and documentaries about the world aftermankind had prepared me to expect some great disaster. Those firstoutings I had brought a sword or two with me, looked for guns andammo, grabbed food from the local markets, but I found nothing reallyout there all too dangerous. My first instinct was to stay within thecity. I was safe there. No reason to leave what seemed to beperfectly safe place. That thought lasted only a few moments asthoughts stemming from those documentaries reminded me that theelectricity, water, and food supplies were likely to run outeventually out soon. They may have already shut down and there was noway that I could get gas indefinitely for cars. It was made starklyclear that I had to find some place that could sustain itself for aslong as I needed, no matter how futile it might seem.

I gathered up every kinda of seed Icould find, packed up my belongings and left the city I was born andraised in for an area that likely was filled with solar powered. Thatwould, at least for as long as i could survive, provide me withentertainment. Once I found and settled down in a nice house with apre-made garden and solar panels installed I connected as manycomputers as I could find to the internet, wrote a script, and hadthem download as much information about how to construct and repairthe various things I would need. There was no telling how long thenetwork would last so the important stuff came first, but that didn'tmean I couldn't download some frivolous things as well.

You might think that the lack ofcontact with other humans and the futility of everything would keepme from being happy or content, but to be honest, things reallydidn't change all that much, and the lack of other people anddistractions gave me time to read, watch, and play a lot of the mediathat I had wanted to, but other things kept me from doing so. It alsoprovided me time to create all the various works that I had wanted tocreate. Unfortunately, no one was there to share with, but that wasno reason to not do it. Of course, with all this time and the workthat was needed to maintain my lttle place I got in shape, bettershape than I had ever been. I guess if you consider that I willprobably live longer because of this it's an odd sort of blessing.

Things went well for years, a timethat I'd surely have lost track of if not for the computers that keptthe time. I was comfortable in my new life. It didn't bother me thatthere was no one to share it with and the fact of the matter was,even if there was someone else remaining in the world we likelywouldn't be able to communicate given that they'd come from anotherpart of the world. I know this a bit wrong, and perhaps it is thefirst signs that I'm going insane, but I have to say, the world is apretty perfect place form me now, given the situation. I'm contentwith my world. Alone filled with knowledge and time to play with. Andthen, there was a knock on the door.

I knew there was probably no onethere. It's not like this the first time this has happened. A knockon the door. You'd be surprised how often that happens. There arelots of things that create a similar noise or hit the door as timegoes on. You get used to it after a while, the rush and theexcitement that comes with the thought that there might be someonethere that I could share... everything with. Those aren't the onlythoughts though, there is always the fear that who ever it is isn'tso in love with the idea of sharing this world. It would be fittingthat the human race so defined by war would end when given the wholeworld to divide among two people they would end up killing each otherand lose it all. The hopes and the fears in the end didn't matterthough.

The trained behavior of answering thedoor every time I heard a knock took a while to get over, but I didget over it eventually. Behavior changes after so many times of noone being there and logically, the reality of the matter is, in thisworld no one would knock on a door. They'd just enter and search forany thing that could be useful to them. They'd take what they wantedlike I did when this all began. There was also the risk that, likeme, they'd be carrying weapons, be on edge, and a potentially greatthing could turn to disaster rapidly. i wouldn't be shocked. Itwouldn't be a big surprise that it ended in such a way, but by thispoint I have studied up on the history of man and likely become themost studied on the subject of mankind. It's what we do... did. Wesought to improve our own lives while destroying the worlds of thosearound us. Some of us rose above that. Not many, and when they didthey were often stopped before long.

The knock on the door came again. Ihadn't checked before. No point. There wasn't going to be anythingthere. I've looked thousands of times in the past. Nothing was everthere. Why waste my time answering a knock now? But then camesomething I was not expecting, a voice.

"Hello? Anyone there?"

I shot out of my seat, out of my dazeof thoughts about the consequences of what this might mean to me andthe future of mankind. I didn't care. I wanted to see another livingface. A face that wasn't an echo from the past. Hurriedly, I ran tothe door, tripping over a few things that lay between me and thedoor. Why keep a clean house all the time when no one else was thereto tell you how much of a slob you are. You'd think with the rush Iwas in to get to the door I would have just opened it, but those oldbehavior came back. The nervousness of meeting someone that couldchange your life and whether or not you'd make a good impression camerushing back. I stood there at the door, took a deep breath, composedmyself, and turned the handle.

The door cracked open as I pulled itslowly, the fresh air blew in. The brightness of the light made meclose my eyes briefly, but then my eyes adjusted and there before mewas a young half naked woman. I must be dreaming. No, not that typeof dream. I'd taken to not wearing many clothes myself over theyears. I had to be careful about what I powered as over exerting thesolar panels could damage them and then I'd have no power so the airconditioning almost never came on. It seems like she had come to thesame conclusion, that the less clothes in the heat,the better. Shehad a big smile on her face and to me it was brighter than the sun inthe sky.

I stumbled upon my words as I invitedher in, kicking aside the small messes that were in the way beforegoing to grab some nice cold, pure water. I didn't know whathardships she had had to deal with in the last few years, but I hadalways figured that the if there were others alive out there thatthey likely had a harder time getting by. Not because of mymechanical expertise or my physical readiness. Had someone asked meif I was going to able to survive or be in such luxary as the worldfalls apart around me I'd have said I'd be among the first to die.The comfort that I now lived in came not from any physical readinessas all the supplies I needed were pretty easily accessible when Ididn't have to compete with others. It was the fact that I knew whereto look and what to look for that allowed me to sustain myselfeasily.

As I presented the pure water to herin a clean cup the young woman seemed to be rather surprised. Shedidn't seem to be scared, but she also didn't seem to be open. Sheseemed to be assessing the situation, assessing what I might do.That's not all that unexpected. I don't know who she is, where shecame from, or what she wants from me. It didn't escape me that shebeing here also meant that there will be hope for humanity for a fewmore years, but I don't think that would be a wise thing to bring upat the moment. I don't want to scare her. I don't want to make herthink that I have ill intentions. Not that it really matters. I'm bigand strong enough to do whatever I wanted with her, but is thatsomething I could live with? Is it something that the world thatmight be reborn from those actions could live with? perhaps aftermany generations and when history becomes mythology it may, but thenthe world may never forget. I sat down across from her, my eyesremain transfixed. I think we were both waiting for the other to makethe first move. It was sort of like being on a first date, neitherperson knowing what the others' reactions might be and not wanting toscare them off.

Good work. If you can write that much daily, you're on the right track. But on the next round you'll need a whole story.

A lot of work, including deciding whether sentences actually belong in the completed work or not, has to be done in relation to the whole. If you're to stop here, you actually can scrub it all the way down to the original pitch, which was written as a joke (it's an old one) as the "shortest sci-fi story". Other super shorts include these hits:

"For sale. Baby shoes. Never used." (Six words.)

"[color="#333333"][font="arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif"]Oh my God, I'm pregnant. I wonder who the father is." (Short story involving sex, religion and mystery.)[/font]
[font="arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif"] [/font]
[font="arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif"][color="#333333"]So on the next round, try to write a whole story. I can't judge much except for little things in prose. Nevertheless, let's look at little things in prose...[/font]
[font="arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif"] [/font]
[color="#333333"][font="arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif"]"[/font][color="#1C2837"]She didn't seem to be scared, but she also didn't seem to be open. She seemed to be assessing the situation, assessing what I might do. That's not all that unexpected."

[color="#1C2837"]These are all judgments. To be effectively engaging, it should be possible to read into a statement further. Judgments can tell us about the judge, in this case the narrater. It's very hard to read into these, though. What do they really say besides the obvious? If I write something like:

[color="#1C2837"]"She glanced around room, looking at me, my Gamecube, back at me, and around the kitchenette I built around my chill zone. She seemed startled. I didn't know what to do at all. If I could've gone back and done things differently, I probably would've put some pants on. But what's done is done."

[color="#1C2837"]One can from this infer a lot about the narrater and how he's spent his time and responded to the end of humanity. One can infer that the newcomer doesn't really know what to make of the situation at all.

[color="#1C2837"]Juxtaposing the narrator's ignorance of what to do with his later assessment of what he should've done expresses the extent to which he was stunned by the situation. (Homestar Runner did a bit like this where Homestar is so excited running out to play in the snow that he forgets his pants, except this guy is wearing no pants because he took a do-what-you-feel approach to not having anyone around anymore.)

[color="#1C2837"]The theme is engagement.

[color="#1C2837"]See if you can do the next one in its entirety in under 2000 words so that elements can be seen in relation to a whole. Some tips for this round.

[color="#1C2837"]-After you're done, take a word count, and then cut 10% of the length without cutting content.
[color="#1C2837"]-You might write from a third person limited perspective. This is like an "over the shoulder" view from one strict party. This is a good writing exercise because you're barred from writing the protagonist's judgment.

[color="#1C2837"]I'll pitch a new seed if you don't have one handy...

[color="#1C2837"]A unit of hard-ass space marines is given some busywork at peacetime; an endangered species of "red-billed sea chickens" have built nests on the beach, but something or someone keeps trashing nests in the night. They're assigned to protect the sea chickens. Go.

This is only 200 words...and could be shorter with the removal of John's job description. With a longer story it'd set up a great series, but as it stands it is just useless info I guess. I feel if I made it longer I couldn't get back to the end within the amount of words I'd like to keep to in the day. However I think it ends at a good point making the reader step into the position of the important sides of the story...Anyways here it is...




The year was 2047, John woke up to thesound of his phone ringing. He was a young up and coming agent of thegovernment. His job was to resolve problems caused by what Delegator,a computer linked with all humans tasked with controlling all legaland governmental decisions, considered rogue agents on the VirtualNet, a network like the internet that uses a virtual realityinterface, often call the V-Net. John, like everyone, had beenchipped many years ago. His future was planned for him and he hasbeen conditioned to follow his orders without question. John answeredhis phone groggily.

"Yes?"

"Activation Code: D-2VNA42"

"Delegator, haven't we discussedcalling me this early?"

"Yes. Prepare to receive urgentorders."

"Go ahead."

"End Delegator Program."

The phone went dead before John couldquestion what Delegator had ordered him. That is, if he were going tothink that in first place. He wasn't going to. His only thought wasto do what Delegator had ordered him to do so he could get on withhis day. John left his apartment and made his way to the Delegatorcomplex. He was met with an armed contingent of guards.

"Step out of the Car"

"I'm here to complete a order Ireceived from Delegator"

"So are we."

...Is that a whole story?

Whole story! Introduce a problem while characterizing the setting, then solve the problem. Continue.